“Fear not, for I am with you” is a Bible verse probably on millions of bathroom mirrors around the country (Is 41:10). Even those who are not expressly committed to the biblical Christian faith often resonate with the idea God is with them, watching over them, and so they need not fear. In our therapeutic culture, God is a vague term that is used to remind us that fate is on our side, we are loved and valued, we are being protected, and we have nothing to fear. But is it true? Do we have nothing to be afraid of? A religion of wishful thinking and naïve positivity usually cannot sustain itself because, for most of us, there are plenty of reasons to fear. And frankly, God often does not seem too interested in keeping us from those things. The therapeutic God just does not seem to really exist, even if we really like to think he does. But for the Christian, we do not base our beliefs on preferences, nor on wishful thinking, we base it on God’s revelation of himself. He has told us who he is. We do not have to play a guessing game; no wishful thinking is needed. So what has the biblical God told us about our tendency towards fear? There are passages, like the one cited above, that can make it feel like the God of the Bible really is the therapeutic God, who never wants us to worry, who will always keep us safe, and always comfort us. But there are other passages where it feels like the Bible is really trying to scare your pants off you. So what’s the deal?

Turns out, the Bible is not self-contradicting, saying one thing at one point and another thing at a different point. Surprisingly enough, we can find this very tension explicitly taught by our Master Teacher and he saw no contradictions: “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:4-7). Jesus, in almost the same breath, just commanded his disciples to fear (5) and to not fear (6-7). First and foremost, these verses from Christ clue us into the fact that we cannot over-simplify or reduce the biblical conception of fear. It’s not necessarily an either-or. In other words, God’s commands to fear or not to fear are in need of context. And Jesus gives those contexts pretty clearly in this passage.

In the context of this world, Jesus boldly calls us not to fear men. When confronted by the opposition or persecution of man, the believer is to stand firm knowing that ultimately, man has no power over her. After all, “What can mere man do to me?”. Well actually, a lot. Man can do a lot to you. And it can be really scary. And Jesus is not in the business of sugar coating, but he is in the business of eternal perspective. Take it from a guy who suffered the worst the world has to offer. The body they may destroy, but they have no power beyond it. So Jesus’ answer to a world of fearful people is not “they can’t hurt you!”, it’s: “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

But there is another context for fear: fear before God, the kind of fear we are told is the beginning of all wisdom in the Old Testament. And in this context, fear is a little harder to pin down. What does Jesus say? First, he says “fear!” (12:5). He commands us to fear God. And it seems untenable that Jesus is merely referring to a sort of humble reverence here when he speaks of fear because he is talking about a God who has the power and authority not only to punish our earthly bodies, but our souls in hell. This seems like your typical fire and brimstone teaching. But right on the heels of verse 5, comes verse 6, a surprising combination: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows”. Jesus goes from Jonathan Edwards to Joel Olsteen here real quick! One minute he’s preaching a God who can cast us into eternal fire, the next he is preaching a God who counts the hairs on head because he so dearly loves us. Confused yet?

What we need to understand in this passage is that Jesus sees both God’s terrifying power and his tender provision as important aspects of theology. And not only are these two attributes not contradictory, they are complimentary. For Jesus, the basis for his lack of fear is his fear. Let me say that in other words: Jesus can only tell us not to fear because he knows that the most dreadful enemy we could confront desires to be gracious to us. Think of it this way: you are going into a gruesome battle. One army is led by a commander of impressive wit and strategy. He is incredibly strong. He is undefeated on the battlefield. The other army is led by a commander with very little authority. He struggles to rally the troops. He has no plan. He is inexperienced and honestly quite weak. He is naively hopeful concerning the battle. Which army has more confidence going into battle? It’s clear: the army with the powerful leader. Would it help the morale of that army to try to ignore the fact that their leader is extremely powerful and mighty? No at all! In this context, their scary leader is a cause for comfort! The more they recognize how strong and equipped their leader is, the more they can rest that they will make it out of this battle alive. They do not downplay the strength and authority of their commander, they exalt it. When the scary one is on your side, it can be pretty darn comforting!

This may seem like a silly metaphor to apply to God. Are we really supposed to glory in how scary God can be? I think in some sense the answer is yes. It doesn’t help us at all to know that a weak God has counted the hairs on our head and looks over us. That’s sweet, but it doesn’t really help. It is nice that God does not forget about us, but does that really affect anything? God’s love and provision can only be as comforting as the reality of his power and authority. Because if God is not mighty, sadly, it doesn’t really matter all that much if he cares. But he is mighty. The most mighty. And that’s why it makes all the difference knowing that he cares. The most dreadful enemy is playing on our side. The biggest thing we have to fear is fighting on our team. Jesus thinks verses 6 and 7 (his statement of God’s tender provision) are best understood in light of verse 5 (his statement on God’s utter power and even his wrath).

It may be time for the church to reconsider the question of fear. If we are so uncomfortable with fire and brimstone that we ignore it, we end up watering down the message of God’s love without even realizing it. God’s love is so powerful precisely because he has the power to do otherwise. The reality of God’s love and provision is best understood when we realize that God is completely equipped to care for us. He is not weak. He is strong. Scary strong. But the strength of his right arm works on our behalf. The battle belongs to the Lord, and through Christ, thank God, that means that the battle belongs to us as well.

So to fear or to not fear? I’ll let you think about that one.